The Week Ahead at the UN Security Council

12 November 2018 – 16 November 2018

Dear Colleague,

On Tuesday (13 November), the Security Council is scheduled to adopt a resolution renewing the mandate of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the authorisation for French forces in the CAR to use all means to support MINUSCA at the request of the Secretary-General.

Also on Tuesday, Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ján Kubiš, is scheduled to brief the Council on the latest Secretary-General’s report on UNAMI and the most recent developments in the country.

There will be a briefing later that day on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Special Representative and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) Leila Zerrougui is expected to brief. Consultations are scheduled to follow.

Two resolutions are currently scheduled to be adopted on Wednesday (14 November): one on the Somalia and Eritrea sanctions regime, with the Council considering lifting sanctions on Eritrea; and a second to renew the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

A briefing on the situation in Kosovo is also planned for Wednesday. The Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, is the anticipated briefer.

On Thursday (15 November), the Council expects a briefing on the joint force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel) or FC-G5S, which Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger decided to establish in February 2017 to combat terrorist and criminal groups in the region. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, G5 Sahel Permanent Secretary Maman Sidikou, AU High Representative for Mali and the Sahel Pierre Buyoya, and Deputy Secretary General for Common Security and Defence Policy and Crisis Response at the European External Action Service Pedro Serrano are expected to brief.

On Friday (16 November), there will be a meeting on South Sudan that is expected to include briefings by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smaïl Chergui.

A meeting on Yemen is also anticipated on Friday, with briefings expected from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock and Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.

At the subsidiary-body level, the Military Staff Committee will be on a field visit to Mali and the UN Integrated Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) this week that is expected to be completed on Friday (16 November). The Committee will also hold a meeting on MINUSMA late in the week.

On Monday (12 November), the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee will be briefed by its Chair, Ambassador Kairat Umarov (Kazakhstan), and the Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Tadamichi Yamamoto.

On the same day, there will be a meeting of the 2127 Central African Republic (CAR) Sanctions Committee. The Chair of the CAR Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Léon Houadja Kacou Adom (Côte d’Ivoire), is expected to brief on his recent visit to the country.

On Thursday (15 November), the 2206 South Sudan Sanctions Committee is scheduled to be briefed by the coordinator of its Panel of Experts on the Panel’s interim report.

The Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict will convene on Friday (16 November) to negotiate its conclusions on the report on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan.

Background information on several of these issues has been published in the November 2018 Monthly Forecast. Further Council developments will be posted to What’s In Blue.